Sunday, March 28, 2010

Upcycled Bracelets

I bought this handbag at the thrift store a while back. I loved the color. The shape of the bag wasn't my style, but I knew I could do something else with it.

These are my creations.

Other than the bag the only supplies I needed were a few beads, a needle and thread.

My favorite thing about repurposing things is that most of the hard work is done for you. I was able to use parts that were already finished at the edges making my job easier.

Now I just have to decide which one to keep and which to give away.

Here is how I made them:

For the Flowery Bracelet:

I started by making a leather band for the base. I folded in the sides of the strip of vinyl, tucked under the edge and sewed it up the middle. I didn't use pins or an iron I just held it in place as I sewed.

Then I sewed seams up the sides to flatten it out.

To make the flowers I cut five petal shapes. With the right sides together I sewed around the curve. Then I flipped them right side out.

I hand sewed the petals together. Sewing long stitches and then pulling them tight created the gathering at the center.

After pulling it tight I sewed the two ends together to make the flower. I sewed it into place on the band and used a wood bead for the center.

To make the rosettes I just rolled up a small strip of vinyl and sewed it together. I sewed it up by running a my needle back and forth through the middle and bottom.

Once I had all my flowers in place I added more beads to fill in gaps. I tucked the ends under and stitched them up. I used a Dritz snap set for my fastener.

For the ruffled bracelet:

I started with a strip of vinyl. I folded in the sides, and sewed two long stitched seams down the center.

Then I pulled on the bottom (bobbin) threads. This creates the gathers. I gathered the band until it was the length of my wrist.

I cut out the the binding on the purse.

I then sewed it down the middle covering up the unfinished edges from the gather.

I finished the ends by sewing little strips of the vinyl on.

I attached this box clasp from an old necklace by sewing it into place.

For the braided bracelet:

I used the remaining three bindings from the purse to make this piece.

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comments:

YOU BLOW MY MIND, I will never get rid of another purse. I am so glad we are Blog Friends, I always get excited when I see that you have a new post, it is my first stop on my computer time and you never disappoint. Hope you are having a great weekend.

Love them, Kalleen. I saw the braided one in the dish on your kitchen counter yesterday. Super cute. PS, I love hanging out with you. We should do something sometime. If you ever want to drive up here, we have a pretty awesome community pool.

Those are amazing. Once you decide which one to keep...if you need help with who to give the other one to, I will HAPPILY volunteer. LOL! Amazing. I can't wait to get to the second hand store. Seriously. awesome. I love it.

LOVE. What you're doing here!!! I can usually see possibilities in things, but I wouldn't have thought of this idea - how awesome! Thanks for sharing, now I think I need to hunt my closet for old handbags....

WOW, I love how you were able to see past the bag to all these! I linked on my weekly roundup last weekend and am just now (yikes!) getting around to commenting. I'd love to be able to expand my crafty thinking part of my brain to do stuff like this someday! :>)

This was a fabulous idea! I had to salvage some purses from the donation box I'm filling up. When I found it last night, I was too tired to bookmark this page. Spent most of this evening scouring my history to find it again. Thanks for the inspiration, and keep being crafty.

hmmm! I've been trying and trying to use this adorable turquoise "ruffled" purse I picked up at a thrift store, but like you said, the shape just isn't working for me. But it's so cute, I hate to just do away with it. You've got my brain working now-I hadn't even considered turning it into something else...!

I am a handbag hoarder - I can't seem to throw them away. This is a super creative way to recycle them! Thanks for the inspiration. I will feature and link in a future blog post so others can come visit.

I find myself disappointed that you used a very stylish, quality handbag to create bracelets??? Up-cycling can truly be appreciated when one takes something that is actually ugly or damaged and turns it into something beautiful and functional. However, I will give credit where it's due your ingenuity and craftsmanship is lovely.

These are all so beautiful! as far as the above comment...I think you can upcycle anything if you don't like it, it doesn't have to be ugly! I think your bracelets turned out great, and it's a much better use for the purse if you wouldn't have used it anyway!

Oh, my, my! I have a huge canary yellow bag I bought a couple of summers ago because I love the color. I carried it for the season, but the cheap vinyl has some snags and scuffs so it's on the shelf in the I-should-get-rid-of-this section in my closet. I can't wait to cut it into it. There are about 10 rows of shirring that I can really have fun with. Thanks for the inspiration.Jan

Why buy a bag if it is not your style, it is mine f.ex. It was a fully useful and pretty bag and yes the color is awesome. Someone else could have bought it and used it for its primary purpose. You just massacred it for a couple of bracelets you're surely tired of by now. This is not upcycling trust me. Think better next time.